Les nominations de l’« affaire du foulard » dans la littérature en sciences humaines et sociales: enjeux socio-politiques de l’argumentation scientifique

This article develops a discursive analysis of the naming process of the “Islamic scarf affair” through the literature of scientific journals in Social and Human Science (SHS). By means of a semiotic approach centered on the argumentative, rhetorical and sociopolitical dimensions of naming processes, this study examines socio-discursive and metalinguistic disputes related to possible namings and legitimated meanings of the public debate on the veil. By setting the scientific literature about the “Islamic scarf affair” at the center of our research, our analysis procedure consists in highlighting not only the namings studied by researchers, but also the argumentative dimension of their own analysis. We treat the arena of scientific reviews as a discursive space of polemical interactions in which SHS researchers propose, refute and negotiate the legitimate namings of this public debate.